


Dye Job

by AdrianaintheSnow



Series: Labeled [45]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety, Fear of Punishment, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, lying to parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrianaintheSnow/pseuds/AdrianaintheSnow
Summary: Remus pulls a prank on Virgil by dyeing his hair during a sleepover. Except. He doesn’t
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Labeled [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616662
Comments: 72
Kudos: 398





	1. Chapter 1

Remus’s hands were surprisingly gentle as he worked shampoo into Virgil’s hair. Remus’s mom (as a rich person and someone whose job was fashion) apparently had an entire sink and special chair dedicated to hair washing in her house. Virgil was set up on it, leaning back and having his hair washed with warm water and sweet-smelling shampoo. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever had someone wash his hair for him. It was really nice and helped him relax even with the anxiety about what they were doing niggling at his thoughts. Remus’s fingers scrubbed gently at his scalp and the handheld shower head spurted out a steady stream of warm water. After working the soap in, Remus washed it out, carding his fingers through Virgil’s hair. He wrung the hair out a bit and then grabbed another bottle of something not as soapy as the shampoo and slicked it into his hair.

Virgil let his mind drift, listening to the music Remus had set up on his phone before starting. Remus generally had a good taste in music and Virgil made a note to ask him what this song was when they were done, because he really liked it. Of course, right as he thought this, the alt rock ballad changed abruptly to Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda. Remus chuckled at the expression that crossed Virgil’s face.

“Must you always ruin the vibe?” he asked, face pinched in pain.

“Nicki brings the vibe,” Remus argued. “You can sit up by the way.” Virgil did, and Remus wrapped a small towel around his shoulders to keep his shirt dry. Remus wandered back over to the station they’d set up earlier and fiddled with a few things. Virgil followed him and sat in the salon chair. Virgil looked at the contents of the bowl Remus was mixing up and bit his lip. “You sure you’re good with this plan?” Remus asked.

Virgil glanced up at him. “I am if you are,” Virgil said. “I-it’s a lot to ask, so if you don’t want to, I’d understand…”

Remus waved him off. “It was my idea,” he reminded. “Plus, I’m not exactly afraid of your dads. What’s Patton going to do, look at me all sad?”

Virgil just bit his lip.

“Look, emo, they’ve seen my hair,” he gestured at his head. He always seemed to have a different hairstyle when Virgil saw him. Today it was spikey with green tips. “Patton even compliments me on mine. They won’t be mad… okay, they may be a little unhappy with me when we tell them I did it while you were asleep, but they wouldn’t be mad at you even if you tell them you wanted it.”

Virgil… knew that. He thought, at least. He just shrugged.

Remus looked at him for a long second. “I’m going to start then, okay?”

“Yeah,” Virgil confirmed.

Remus started applying the dye to his hair then with some weird brush thing, wrapping it in foil as he went. They were silent except for the rotating soundtrack of chill good music and random high energy explicit pop songs.

They were the only ones awake in Remus’s house. He’d been invited to stay the night and Roman had taken him through all of the (supposedly) typical slumber party rituals that Virgil had never experienced before. However, Roman had conked out on his bedroom floor at 10:30pm, half an hour after his moms went to sleep, despite claiming that they were going to stay up all night. Virgil, whose sleep schedule was fucked when he wasn’t sleeping in a strange house, was still wide awake then, along with Remus.

They’d gotten to talking and had eventually landed on the subject of Remus’s hair. He did it himself, he’d said, sometimes with his mama’s help, but he could pull off most things by himself. Remus had, apparently, noticed the little bit of wistfulness to Virgil’s tone when talking about hair dye, because he’d asked if he wanted Remus to dye it for him some time.

“I… I couldn’t,” he’d said. “I might get in trouble.” Remus had seemed confused about why Virgil would get in trouble for dyeing his own hair, but Virgil had eventually managed to stumble through enough of an explanation for Remus to understand.

“What if we pretend that I pranked you by dyeing your hair while you slept?” Remus suggested. “I do shit like that all the time. I was actually planning to do the shaving cream in the hand trick to Roman before I realized you were awake. That way they couldn’t be mad at you, you get your hair dyed, and you can see how they feel about you having colored hair.”

“But… you’d probably get in trouble for that.”

Remus had rolled his eyes. “I’m always in trouble.”

After some convincing, Virgil had agreed, and they’d picked out a light purple to dye his hair with. He was still dreading the conversation that was going to happen when he got home even though the ire would hopefully not be on him if everything went according to plan.

“You should tell them,” Remus suggested partway through the dye job, “once they don’t react bad to it. You should tell them it was your decision. Not for me, I don’t care if everyone’s mad at me, just… You can trust them.”

Virgil fidgeted a bit as Remus continued to work the dye into his hair. “I know I can trust them.”

“But…”

“Look,” Virgil said. “Someone playing a prank on me and dyeing my hair would have resulted in me getting punished anyway in any other house I lived in, let alone choosing to get it done myself. This… this is trusting them.”

Remus’s fingers hesitated. “Alright,” he said. “Baby steps then. I got you.”

“Thanks.” Virgil said. He returned to dyeing Virgil’s hair.

“Alright,” Remus said after a few minutes. “All done. Now we just wait a few minutes and rinse it out.”

Remus made him promise not to look in the mirror while he blow-dried and styled Virgil’s hair. It seemed like a waste of time considering that Virgil was just going to (maybe) sleep on it after this, but he seemed so enthusiastic about it and he was doing so much for Virgil already that Virgil didn’t argue the point.

Eventually he had Virgil close his eyes so he could spin the chair around to face the mirror. “What do you think?”

Virgil opened his eyes and leaned forward a bit. “It’s good,” he said. He tilted his head and some of the purple hair fell into his face. His eyes tracked it. This was overwhelming in the best way possible. It was still him in the mirror, still the same old face he was used to. He just had different colored hair, but it still felt like something far more had changed: something inside. “I…” he said. “I’ve never had a choice on me before.” Remus touched his shoulder gently and Virgil looked up at him. “Thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” Remus said. “Now, let’s get everything cleaned up and you to bed. I can’t wait to hear Ro yell at me tomorrow when he wakes up.”


	2. Chapter 2

Virgil woke to the feeling of someone staring at him. He turned to look and found Roman watching him with wide eyes for some reason. He blinked in confusion, still not quite awake. “Take a picture it will last longer,” he grumbled when Roman didn’t glance away.

“Uh,” said Roman eloquently.

Virgil reached up and rubbed his eye. “It’s too early in the morning for whatever this is, Ro. What?”

Instead of answering, Roman reached over and grabbed his phone to take a picture.

“…I was joking about the picture.”

“So, don’t freak out.”

“I am officially freaking out.”

Roman winced and turned the phone so Virgil could see the picture he’d just taken.

Virgil looked at it and almost laughed when he remembered. Right. His hair would be purple now, and that would probably confuse Roman. Instead of laughing though, he schooled his face into confusion. “How did that happen?” he asked.

Roman pulled the phone away with a frown. He hopped suddenly to his feet. “Remus!” he shrieked.

“Remus _what_ did you do?” Mrs. Silvia yelled immediately from somewhere downstairs.

Virgil heard Remus cackling from across the hall. Roman got to his feet to storm out, but then he seemed to remember something and turned back to Virgil, eyeing him warily. “Are you good?” he asked. “Can I do anything to make you feel better?”

“Oh,” Virgil said blinking. “Uh, no, I’m fine.”

“You’re not upset that your hair is dyed purple?” Roman asked, disbelievingly.

“Does it look that bad?” he asked, suddenly a bit self-conscious.

“No, it doesn’t look bad!” Roman was quick to assure. “It just was done without your permission. I was worried you might not… like that.”

Virgil thought about how he’d feel if someone had actually done something like dye his hair without his permission. He’d probably be halfway to a panic attack, and Roman probably knew that. “I’m fine,” Virgil assured.

“You’re sure?”

Virgil nodded.

“Great, then excuse me while I murder my brother.”

He stood up and bolted towards the door, slamming it behind him. “Come here you little cretin!”

“Little?! I’m taller than you!”

“You are not!” Virgil heard feet pounding outside Roman’s room towards the steps.

Virgil shook his head. Well… at least it sounded like Remus was having fun being yelled at. …He hoped he could have that much fun when it wasn’t just his brother, but his parents and Virgil’s parents too. The thought made him squirm uncomfortably, but Remus had promised it was okay…

“You _what_?” Mrs. Silvia’s voice shrieked from downstairs. Remus cackled again, which made Virgil feel a bit better.

He stood up and looked in the mirror. He ran a hand through his hair. It was messier now that he’d slept on it, but it was almost more fun that way. He ruffled it a bit, so it was a purposeful type of messy and smiled at his reflection.

The Silvia’s had been strangely quiet for the last few minutes considering the shouting that had been going on a while ago, so Virgil decided he should probably investigate.

He walked down the steps and followed the sound of only slightly raised voices into the kitchen.

“Oh, come on, it’s funny,” Remus was saying.

“It is not funny,” Mayor Silvia said. She was using a tone Virgil had never heard her use before as the mayor or as a mom. Usually, she was pretty lenient towards Remus’s hijinks. Even when scolding him (usually at the insistence of Mrs. Silvia) she usually had barely concealed amusement in her tone. There wasn’t any amusement today. “That was a poor excuse for a prank. We have taught you better than this.”

Remus did hesitate then, and Virgil winced. “Sorry,” he said.

“I am not the person you should be apologizing too.”

Virgil edged into the kitchen then and the four occupants looked up. Remus managed to throw him a thumbs up without his family seeing, but Virgil still felt a bit guilty. Should he just come clean?

“Sorry Virgil,” Remus said.

“Uh… apology accepted? It’s really okay though.”

“See, he’s fine.” Mrs. Silvia shot him a glare and Remus looked down at the table. “I mean, I’ll make it up to you. How about a dozen tacos?” Remus winked and Virgil almost rolled his eyes. He guessed he owed Remus a dozen tacos now. At least that seemed to mean, Remus was okay with being scolded.

“Sounds good,” Virgil said.

Both of Remus’s moms and Roman still seemed pissed at him, but they were all still served breakfast and things lightened up a little bit over the course of it. Still, Virgil was relieved when it was over and time for him to go home. That relief was short lived when Mayor Silvia said to Remus, “You will be driving Roman and Virgil back so you can explain to his dads what you did.”

Right. Right, he still needed to face his dads with a head full of purple hair. He felt anxiety churn in his stomach. Remus smacked him in the shoulder on the way by to grab his keys. Oh god, this was all going to go horribly wrong.

But, he couldn’t exactly not go home… well he could, but Logan would track him down within the hour and Patton would probably cry at him. So, he got in the car with Remus and Roman. Roman and Remus kept arguing the whole way. Well, Roman argued. Remus mocked. Their banter managed to keep the cold creeping dread away for the most part, that is until they pulled into the driveway. Remus said something when they pulled up that made Roman leave the car in a huff and slam the door closed. Remus glanced back at him in the mirror. “You good?” he asked.

“What if they’re mad?”

“They won’t be, but we can always drive off without Roman and go on an impromptu road trip instead.”

Virgil laughed despite himself. “Nah. I think it’s probably time to face the music.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and forced himself out of the car. Roman, the oblivious idiot, was already halfway to the door, so Virgil followed behind him, Remus taking up the rear.

It hadn’t exactly occurred to him that the twin’s moms had almost definitely texted his dads, so he was momentarily thrown off when Logan opened their door upon their approach. He looked pissed.

Virgil had a knee-jerk apology on his lips, but Remus cut him off. “Sorry, dude,” Remus said, and Virgil almost laughed at Logan’s expression at being called ‘dude’ “I put your son in the wash with the wrong colored sock.”

Logan sighed. “I imagine your mother has already explained to you why it is not appropriate to perform pranks on people that include semi-permanent changes in appearance.”

“Oh, I got an earful,” Remus said, “and I probably will again when I get home.”

“As you should,” Logan said firmly, but then he turned his eyes to Virgil. He gave him a soft expression that Virgil recognized, and Virgil felt the pit in his stomach loosen. Their plan, it seemed, had worked. All of his ire was directed at Remus, and not at Virgil. “Are you alright?”

Virgil nodded. “I’m good.”

“Good,” Logan replied. “Patton has baked you cookies.”

Virgil nodded and turned to meet eyes with Remus. “Thanks. For the ride,” he said meaningfully. Remus winked back.

“Don’t thank him!” Roman said. “He’s an asshole.”

Virgil laughed, “and thank you for the slumber party. I’ll text you later about when I can beat you at Mario Cart again.”

Roman seemed placated now that he’d been thanked too. “You were just lucky,” he said pointing.

“18 times?” Virgil asked.

“Shut it!”

Virgil just smirked and turned his back on him as he turned to start complaining to Remus about how he was a good Mario Cart player and Virgil was lying. The front door closed on them and a gently hand touched Virgil’s shoulder, leading him towards the kitchen.

Patton looked up from moving cookies from a cookie sheet onto a plate. “Hi sweetie,” he said rounding the table. He eyed Virgil’s hair and Virgil had a flash of nervousness before he smiled gently. “Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Virgil said.

Patton considered him for a moment but seemed to decide he was telling the truth. “I made you cookies.”

Virgil chuckled. “I can see that Dad, thanks.”

Patton smiled and pushed the plate at him, which Virgil took as a cue to take one.

“So, what is the plan to deal with this?” Logan asked.

Virgil looked at him curiously.

“We could try to fix it at home or go to a professional hairdresser.”

Oh. Virgil felt his stomach drop. Of course, they’d want him to change it back. Why hadn’t he thought about that? He didn’t _want_ to get rid of it. He liked it so much. He hesitated. “I-is it that bad?” he finally managed to ask.

And thank god for Patton because he seemed to immediately pick up on all of Virgil’s emotions about changing his hair back. “Oh, no, sweetie,” he said. “It looks really cute. We were just afraid you’d be upset since it was done without your permission.”

“I mean. It’s not bad,” Virgil said. He looked at his feet. “It kinda grew on me a bit, but I can… I can change it back if you don’t want it to look like this.”

“Hmm,” Patton said. “Why don’t we table the topic of changing it back? You can decide if you like it or not in a couple of days. Then we can work on changing it back if you don’t like it, or you can keep it if you do.”

Virgil nodded. He already liked it, but he couldn’t quite express it. Patton looked at him with knowing eyes. Virgil wondered how much he knew.

Logan of course, was clearly oblivious, but willing to go along with whatever Patton said. He reached up to mess with one of the strands. “It does suit you if you decide to keep it,” he commented, and Virgil felt his chest warm with happiness.

“You think so?”

Logan blinked at him. “I would not have said so if I didn’t.”

Virgil laughed lightly. “Thanks.”


End file.
